1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a game device and more specifically, this invention relates to board games of chance and skill where, in racing from a starting point to a finish, movement is not limited to a linear path around the board and where negative numbers as well as positive numbers are utilized to direct the course of the game.
2. Description of Related Art
Various types of game boards, such as Parcheesi, Sorry and Trouble have been provided which accommodate racing from a starting point to a finish and which utilize dice or other chance devices to direct the course of the game. There are many game boards such as Chess and Chinese Checkers which offer players a choice of paths not limited to a linear path around the board. Board games with concentric and radial designs providing multiple paths have also been provided in the past, the patents of which are cited here: 4,971,332, 4,895,375, 4,208,054, 4,030,762, 3,223,420, 2,990,181. While the above cited references have advantages and merit, none of these board games employs the same radial graph design used in this invention which enables players to race from start to finish in a graph traversal problem of multiple paths. None of the previously cited games use negative rolls of the dice provided by taking the difference of the numbers showing on the dice to draw a player's pieces to the center of the board, sending them back to their starting position. However, the game board of U.S. Pat. No. 2,990,181 suggests the use of radial paths emanating from the "sun" at the center of the board to represent the gravitational pull of the sun as a hazard, but fails to give any details as to how said hazard would be implemented. The game boards of U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,208,054, 4,895,375 and 4,971,332 use the space at the center of the board as the goal of the game but not as a hazardous, attractive force. The game boards of U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,223,420 and 4,030,762 both have means of instantaneous travel where by chance, when a player lands on a given player piece position, that piece is either sent to the center of the board as is the case in the game of U.S. Pat. No. 4,030,762, or as is the case in the game of U.S. Pat. No. 3,223,420, instructions on a card may send a player's piece to a stated position. Neither of these games offers a player the option of using their respective instantaneous travel systems.